Smoke Grenade
The Smoke Grenade is a non-lethal grenade used by the COG. Featured in every part of the Gears of War trilogy, the Smoke Grenade discharges a thick, white-gray smoke that obscures the vision of anyone inside the cloud or outside looking into the cloud. Gameplay In Gears of War, Gears of War 2, and Gears of War 4, Smoke Grenades appear only in Multiplayer. All players start the round with one Smoke Grenade, but may choose to discard the Smoke Grenade in favor of other grenade types on the map, such as Ink Grenades or Bolo Grenades. In Gears of War 3, they are available in the single player campaign as well, but are in out-of-the-way locations, and hard to spot. In Gears of War, the Smoke Grenade discharged a thick cloud of smoke, obscuring vision. However, the smoke cloud did not disable the reticle targeting system, which lets players know when an enemy is targeted through the reticle by changing the reticle's color from white to red. In Gears of War 2 and 3, the Smoke Grenade detonates with a concussive blast in addition to the smoke cloud. The smoke cloud disperses over a period of several seconds, but does disable the reticle targeting system. Like the Bolo Grenade and Ink Grenade, the Smoke Grenade can also be reconfigured as a proximity mine by meleeing the grenade onto an object in the environment. The knockdown ability was removed in Epic Games' 'Old School Weekend' event. Since then, the ability to knock players over has been removed and was changed to players doing the 'hand-over-eyes' stun animation. Tactics The Smoke Grenade has a number of uses: The fundamental function of the Smoke Grenade is to create cover. The smoke cloud created by the Smoke Grenade prevents players from targeting enemies in or through the cloud by disabling the reticle targeting system. The Smoke Grenade can be used to provide cover on open-terrain maps (such as Blood Drive) to obscure the vision of enemy snipers. The Smoke Grenade's ability to disrupt the reticle targeting system effectively blinds players using the Torque Bow, Longshot Sniper Rifle, or Boomshot Grenade Launcher, who rely on the reticle targeting system. This can create the moment of distraction a team needs to evade a dangerous area, such as Courtyard or one of the open areas on Jacinto. If downed while holding the Smoke Grenade near enemies, you can self-detonate, stunning any enemies nearby, and giving a little extra time to crawl away or be revived. The concussive blast added to the Smoke Grenade in Gears of War 2 gives the Smoke Grenade a secondary tactical function. If a player using a Meat Shield is hit by the Smoke Grenade's concussive blast, the player will automatically drop the Meat Shield. The concussive blast is particularly effective in close-range combat, allowing players to gain an advantage over the disoriented enemy. Smoke Grenades can be particularly lethal when used in conjunction with the Lancer Assault Rifle's Chainsaw Bayonet, Gnasher Shotgun or Gorgon Pistol. The Smoke Grenade can also be used to create a trap or set up an ambush by meleeing the grenade onto a wall. When set as a proximity mine next to an Ink Grenade, the Smoke Grenade will disorient an enemy, while the Ink Grenade deals damage. With effective team coordination, the Smoke Grenade can be used to signal the location of enemies for allies in a good vantage point with the Boomshot, Longshot Sniper Rifle, or Mortar. The smoke cloud will also make enemies easier to detect, as they will cough loudly if they're near it. The Smoke Grenade can trigger glitches, causing players to be killed by it. Because the Smoke Grenade is left behind after being swapped for a different grenade type, Smoke Grenades are quite a bit easier to get than Bolo or Ink Grenades. It also makes a good Scare Tactic by throwing the grenade towards enemies, then revving the Lancer Assault Rifle; this method can backfire as sometimes the enemy will fire or throw grenades into the smoke whilst retreating, sometimes killing you. This method will mostly work against new players but sometimes it will work against veterans if they have low health. Skorge Glitch The smoke grenade is the key factor for an infamous glitch exclusive only to Skorge in mutiplayer. The glitch involves pressing the button A, B, X, or Y when the character is in mid-air or impacting the floor during a smoke grenade explosion. By mashing these buttons constantly inside the blast radius of a smoke grenade, the player will be flung into mid-air again. The glitch can be exploited by a player as a means of escape, escalating to a higher or lower ledge, or flanking an unsuspected enemy. The glitch can also be used to reach new areas of a map that are normally inaccessible. Depending on the situation, this can be either good or bad (i.e. In the Ruins map, a person can get stuck on the pillars and trapped, or a person can fall into the Imulsion, which does nothing. However, a player can land in certain parts and fall to his death). Also, on River, you can be knocked off the ruined building and get killed too, though you don't fall off to your death. This glitch is very dangerous on Guardian since the Leader on the Locust side will be Skorge, and the glitch will affect him. Title Update 4 Because of numerous complaints regarding the balancing of gameplay and the exploitation of glitches, the stun effect of the smoke grenade has been replaced with a cringe animation. So instead of being knocked off of their feet when a smoke is set off, the player will now cover his sides and remain stationary for a short period of time. After the Gearsiversary week, they altogether removed the stun effect from the Smoke Grenade so it is just like Gears 1. Gears of War 3 In the Gears of War 3 Beta, the Smoke Grenade now has an added flashbang function, partially blinding and disorientating those caught in the initial explosion. The stun effect from Gears of War 2 is also more potent, stunning enemies for up to a second in the initial blast radius but in exchange, the player can move while stunned. The smokescreen effect is also thinner, but covers a larger area. Smoke Grenades can now be picked up on certain maps, often spawning opposite Frag Grenades. If a player is tagged with a smoke grenade they will go down with the blast, even at full health. Tips and Tricks *On Security, if you place a smoke grenade on the wall in front of the laser gates to either the right or the left of the Mortar/Mulcher spawn and fire at the grenade, detonating it, it is possible to be blown through the laser gate without dying. This is easier to do in Matchmaking than it is in custom games for some unknown reason. *On Flood, if a smoke grenade explodes near you while you're at the Boomshot/Torque Bow spawn, it is possible that you'll get blown into the Imulsion behind you. *If they are available, a good tactic is to tag a wall with both the Smoke grenade and an Ink or Bolo grenade. This way, the smoke will prevent escape (due to the stun) while the other grenade detonates and kills the enemy, though the ink one will take some time, so a player might be needed. *A Smoke Grenade can kill a Sire when it explodes, although no kills are counted towards the player who set or threw the grenade. *When you are being flung on the ground by the smoke grenade detonation, or just on the ground stunned by it, you can be killed by normal gunfire without being downed. (Irrelevant with patch) *If you are unfortunate enough to be caught by the blast near stairs, the player will slowly slide down, and only get up when they reach the bottom. (Irrelevant with patch) *If you want some extra cover in a firefight, hit one of your bot/player allies with a Smoke Grenade. Though you will all be knocked down, if you have good close-range weapons, you can kill them before they kill you. *If so, to prevent getting friendly fired, which has happened (taking a weapon when your ally gets his shotgun out and shoots you), smoke the bot to slow him down to get your weapon. *In Gears of War 3, when a smoke grenade is tagged to an enemy your opponent will be instantly downed. Making it a good opportunity for a kill. A kill is possible if the player has been downed twice and is then tagged with a grenade. *The Smoke Grenade is highly used in Capture the Leader due to being able to rescue the teams' leader if they are used as a meat shield. *All heavy weapons will be dropped, also forcing players out of a Silverback and Turret after 4th update *Pairing up a Retro Lancer and Smoke grenades is a good tactic in versus. Appearances *''Gears of War: Judgment'' *''RAAM's Shadow'' *''Gears of War'' *''Gears of War: Ultimate Edition'' *''Gears of War 2'' *''Gears of War 3'' *''Gears of War 4'' *''Gears 5 '' References Category:Technology Category:Coalition of Ordered Governments Armed Forces technology Category:Gears of War weapons Category:Gears of War 2 weapons Category:Gears of War 3 weapons Category:Gears of War: Judgment weapons Category:Gears of War 4 weapons Category:Gears 5 weapons